Juggling is the number one source for dealing the highest amount of damage in one go. Use any means of outwitting your opponent in order to launch them into a juggle. Look over the Combo Challenge juggles first, though only use them as a visual aid to get an idea of what kind of combos your character may be capable of. We’ll admit they aren’t exactly optimal but they do serve as a starting point if you’re unsure of where to begin in this area. More advanced juggles come from research and exploration of your character’s various strikes and launchers. You can also use sites such as YouTube to seek visual demonstrations of potentially useful juggles. If you find a setup that looks effective, feel free to copy it, memorize it, then implement it into your play! As you experiment with your characters launchers and combo extenders, along with observing videos of more advanced player’s, you’ll expand your juggle repertoire as you go.
Your mix up game is extremely important for winning the match. If you’re not juggling, you’re doing mix ups when on the offensive. This means that you’re jumping from one combo to another. The golden rule of mix ups is: “Never finish your strings if your opponent seems vigilant”, because most likely you will get countered, or grabbed from the recovery after your combo is finished (i.e. any unsafe string enders or strikes will get throw punished, or predictable strings will get held). You want to stay ahead of the game by playing mind games with your opponent and switching your play style constantly. Understand how to bait your opponent into your mix ups.
An example could be doing something like PP~then a Grab, or initiating your offense with a Mid P, such as a 66P, following up with either a high jab or a Mid K, then either launching your opponent immediately with a high launcher or going for that Mid P critical burst attack for big damage! It’s all about Risk/Reward in any given situation: The amount of risk for potential punishment versus the potential for serious damage to your opponent.
There are certain situations that grant your character a guaranteed move, meaning that it will leave your opponent helpless either for a strike or throw such as punishing an unsafe move on block with a throw, executing an air juggle or following up with a certain strike after an unholdable stun such as a limbo stun. When you are learning a character, it is necessary to figure out their guaranteed moves and its potential for your mix up game and juggles. Basically guaranteed moves contribute greatly to the overall damage output you’ll deliver to your opponent in a match. An example of a guaranteed setup is Mila’s CH 7K__~6P+K.
This is probably arguably the most complex aspect of DOA5 and the area that perplexes and frustrates newer players the most. It is also the basis for majority of the offensive gameplay in DOA5. Most attacks that connect on CH can induce a stun which renders the opponent helpless for a certain duration of frames, with their only options being a counter-hold or Stagger-escaping (SE) to try and escape this most unfavorable situation. There are also attacks, such as most kick attacks, which can induce stuns on NH as opposed to just CH. There’s also numerous stuns in DOA5 such as Limbo Stuns, Sit-Down Stuns, Gut-stuns, Faint Stuns, Stumble Stuns, Nosebleed Stuns, and so on and so forth. Yeah, there are a A LOT of stuns in DOA5, and understanding how the stun system works is very challenging.
All stuns are essential to your stun mix ups and combos, and learning to exploit them is key. Opponents you stun cannot block, but can counter as mentioned before. An SDS, or Sit-Down Stun, even prevents your foe from countering for a certain number of frames, unless they SE to reduce the number of stun frames. SDS’s are especially good for follow-up attacks such as launchers, causing some good damage from juggles. But note that SDS’s don’t necessarily grant guaranteed follow-ups and their effectiveness can get further hindered by an opponent that can SE well.
A Limbo Stun turns your foe into a vegetable, only allowing them to fall to the floor, effectively giving you an opportunity to land a guaranteed strike follow-up. Unlike SDS’s, Limbo Stuns cannot be SE’ed, meaning that the amount of frames you have for a follow-up remain constant. Faint Stuns also allow for guaranteed follow-ups and can’t be SE’ed, making them similar to Limbo Stuns except the opponent is facing forward. Most Stumble Stuns can guarantee a follow-up on the BT’ed opponent, however they can be SE’ed and there is a window for the opponent to hold. Gut Stuns cause the opponent to crumble to the floor allowing you to follow-up only with a Mid or Low strike (High strikes will whiff). The opponent unfortunately can hold out of a gut stun, but can’t SE, though they fall over fairly quickly anyway.
There are also three “Critical Stun” levels in DOA5, which each allow for a different launch height off of your launchers. Critical Level 1, along with NH launchers launch the lowest, whereas Critical Level 3 leads to the highest launches allowing for some of your most damaging juggles. Critical Level 3 will also be signified by a message on the corner of the screen reading “CRITICAL STUN” in red text (technically the red text can appear on Critical Level 2 also). This capitalized red text is also a signal that you can attempt to hit your opponent with a Critical Burst (CB): a 24 damage, i19 or i20 attack that renders your opponent completely helpless for a few moments, granting you an opportunity to hit a launcher for a max height juggle or an incredibly powerful attack, the Power Blow (PB).
It is recommended that you try to find and utilize your character’s unholdable stuns (such as SDS’s and Limbo Stuns), because they tend to lead into the biggest damage setups and combos in DOA5.
A highly potent blast-back attack and a super launcher that grants an extremely damaging juggle are only available when your health drops below 50% and are signified by a red bar around your health bar. They are guaranteed after a successful CB, though require a small charge. PL’s in particular have fairly tight timing in their execution, and require a slightly longer charge than a PB to get the desired effect. In our opinion, PB’s are the safer bet for big damage if we had to choose between the two. These two techniques can turn the tide of a match around instantly.
